DVDBeaver Newsletter - February 2nd, 2008
Miiya! - 14 new reviews this week - a new Criterion, from David Lean to Wong Kar-Wai in high-definition, new Calendar Releases! some SALES, both Feature DVD and Blu-ray of the Month, and another new CONTEST. A mediocre week with both high and low points...
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LATEST Additions to the
Release Calendar
(PRE-ORDER and save!):
Cross Creek (Martin Ritt, 1983) Lions Gate
Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008) MiraMax
Vinyan (Fabrice Du Welz, 2008) Sony Pictures
Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone, 2008) R2 UK Optimum Home Entertainment
Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008) R2 UK 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Taken [Blu-ray] (Pierre Morel, 2008) R'B' UK 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Brokeback Mountain [Blu-ray] (Ang Lee, 2005) Universal Studios
The Reader [Blu-ray] (Stephen Daldry, 2008) Weinstein Company
Dr. Strangelove
[Blu-ray]
(Stanley Kubrick, 1964) Sony Pictures
An American in Paris
[Blu-ray]
(Vincente Minnelli, 1951) Warner
Gigi
[Blu-ray]
(Vincente Minnelli, 1958) Warner
It's a Pleasure
(William A. Seiter, 1945) MGM
Cleopatra 75th Anniversary
Edition
(Cecil B. DeMille, 1934) Universal Home Video
Fly Away Home
[Blu-ray]
(Carroll Ballard, 1996) Sony Pictures
A Woman Called Golda
(Alan Gibson, 1982)
Straw Dogs
[Blu-ray]
(Sam Peckinpah, 1971) R'B' UK Fremantle Home Entertainment
Trainspotting: Ultimate
Collector's Edition
[Blu-ray]
(Danny Boyle, 1996) R'B'
Pre-Code Hollywood Collection - The Cheat (1931, 74 min.) Merrily We Go to Hell (1932, 78 min.), Hot Saturday (1932, 73 min.), Torch Singer (1933, 71 min.), Murder at the Vanities (1934, 89 min.) Search for Beauty (1934, 78 min.) - Universal Home Video
NEW REVIEWS:
ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): Hitting me hardest was Blindness. Not a film for everyone as it can be harsh in exposing society's breakdown but I got a lot out of my viewing. I thought Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna BR was a tremendous storytelling experience - scintillating filmmaking. I think it's fair to simply call Hobson's Choice a 'masterpiece'. They don't make films like Guinness-Greene-Reed's Our Man in Havana anymore - unfortunately the DVDs are resoundingly imperfect. Ashes of Time ReDux BR is certainly interesting - if feeling a bit piece-meal at times. LaBute's Lakeview Terrace BR gives pause for introspection. Time may very well judge Sideways BR as one of the better modern character pieces. I haven't seen Changeling BR yet but will definitely indulge based on Leonard's stellar review. A Time to Kill BR is a gripping courtroom drama that looks incredible in 1080P. The Secret Life of Bees BR deserves a wide audience. Although The Natalie Wood Collection may not be up to previous Warner standard it still rates for film value and viewing experience.
New Reviews:
The Natalie Wood Collection - Warner dish
up six Natalie Wood films spanning the late 50's to the mid 60's - Bombers
B-52: The era's mightiest fighting machine! A dissension-torn crew prepares
for a test flight of a 2000-ton B-52 Stratofortress. Cash McCall: What's
the real reason behind corporate raider Cash McCall's (James Garner) bid to snap
up Austen Plastics? Could it be a way to woo the lovely daughter (Wood) of
Austen's owner? Splendor in the Grass (remastered): Their hearts say yes.
Their hometown says no. Repression reaps tragedy in a compelling tale of
teenaged lovers in 1920s Kansas. Natalie Wood teams with screen-debuting Warren
Beatty. Gypsy (remastered): You gotta have a gimmick! Stripper Gypsy Rose
Lee (Wood) has one of the best, thanks to the coaching of stage mom Rosalind
Russell. Sex and the Single Girl: From Helen Gurley Brown's bestseller!
Natalie Wood is the girl who writes the book on love--and Henry Fonda, Tony
Curtis, and Lauren Bacall join her in the boudoir bedlam that follows. Inside
Daisy Clover: Who better to play a teen screen sensation than the star who
was one of film's greatest child actors? Natalie Wood and up-and-comer Robert
Redford shine in this inside-Tinseltown tale. DVD Release Date: February 3rd,
2009
Changeling BR
- J. Michael Straczynski is very much interested in motive, and Eastwood makes
certain that the horror behind the motive is exposed, if not explained. Why
would a child go off in the company of a stranger? Why would someone murder
children he doesn't even know, secretly and without gain? Why would those we
hire, elect and certify to protect and serve conspire to commit crimes against
those it is sworn to defend, fully cognizant of its effect? Why would the public
say nothing for as long as it does? While the movie centers on the real life
experience of one woman, it cannot help but hold up a mirror for society to
examine its own culpability. Blu-ray Release
date: February 17, 2009
The Secret Life of Bees
BR - A heartwarming and empowering story
based on the celebrated best-selling novel by the same name. The Secret Life
of Bees stars Dakota Fanning (Charlotte’s Web, War Of the Worlds)
as Lily Owens, a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late
mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father,
Lily flees with her caregiver to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to
her mother’s past. Taken in by the Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in
their mesmerizing world of bees and honey and inevitably discovers what it truly
means to be a family. Blu-ray Release Date: February 3rd, 2009
A Time to Kill BR
- John Grisham's bestseller A Time to Kill hits the screen with
incendiary force, directed by Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, The
Client). Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey and Kevin
Spacey portray the principals in a murder trial that brings a small Mississippi
town's racial tensions to the flashpoint. Amid a frenzy of activist marches,
Klan terror, media clamor and brutal riots, an unseasoned but idealistic young
attorney mounts a stirring courtroom battle for justice. The superb ensemble
also includes Brenda Fricker, Oliver Platt, Charles S. Dutton, Ashley Judd,
Patrick McGoohan, Chris Cooper and both Donald and Keifer Sutherland...
Blu-ray Release Date: February 10th, 2009
Miracle at St. Anna
BR - With the help – some would say, hindrance – of a screenplay
by James McBride, based on his book, Spike Lee has fashioned a story about the
experience of the American Negro soldier in WWII. As expected, Lee's take on
racism is unflinching in its bitterness, especially as it focuses on the
segregationist thinking of white field officers and policies of our military.
That dialogue infects black soldiers as well, who can hardly be expected to take
the notion of loyalty seriously. Yet they do. Perhaps this is the real miracle.
Blu-ray Release date: February 10th, 2009
Ashes of Time ReDux
BR - Celebrated director Wong Kar-Wai revisits his 1994 film
ASHES OF TIME, the Hong Kong filmmaker's only entry into the martial arts
genre. Based on the novel by Louis Cha, this film follows a lone swordsman
(Leslie Cheung) as time passes. ASHES OF TIME REDUX also stars Tony Leung
Ka Fai, Brigitte Lin, and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, and it features an appearance by
Maggie Cheung. Blu-ray DVD Release Date: January
26th, 2009
Sideways BR
- A wine tasting road trip to salute Jack's (Thomas Haden Church) final days as
a bachelor careens woefully sideways as he and Miles (Paul Giamatti) hit the gas
en route to mid-life crises. The comically mismatched pair, who share little
more than their history and a heady blend of failed potential and fading youth,
soon find themselves drowning in wine and women (Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen).
Emerging from a haze of pinot noir, wistful yearnings and trepidation about the
future, the two inevitably collide with reality...
Blu-ray Release Date: February 3rd, 2009
Hobson's Choice - An unsung comic triumph
from David Lean, Hobson’s Choice stars the legendary Charles Laughton as
the harrumphing Henry Hobson, the owner of a boot shop in late Victorian
northern England. With his haughty, independent daughter Maggie (Brenda De
Banzie) decides to forge her own path, romantically and professionally, with
none other than Henry’s prized bootsmith Will (a splendid John Mills), father
and daughter find themselves head-to-head in a fiery match of wills. Equally
charming and caustic, Hobson’s Choice, adapted from Harold Brighouse’s famous
play, is filled to the brim with great performances and elegant, inventive
camera work. DVD Release Date: February 17th, 2009
Pretty Woman BR
- Pretty Woman is a classic instance of how much an original concept can
get turned on its head as it moves from pitch to final script, casting, shoot
and edit. The original idea, titled 3000 after Ms. Roberts's character's
purchase price, was far more cynical in its treatment of prostitution. Instead,
what we have at the drop of a video disc, is a rags-to-riches Cinderella tale
about a naïve hooker (Julia Roberts) who is transformed into a woman of elegance
by a cavalier, multi-millionaire (Richard Gere) - with the help of the manager
of the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Hector Elizondo). In turn, Roberts brings
true romance into Gere's life. Blu-ray Release
date: February 10th, 2009
Our Man in Havana - Having found so much
success with his adaptations of Graham Greene novels The Fallen Idol
(1948) and The Third Man (1949), Carol Reed revisited the author's oeuvre
with this fabulous satirical spy story. Ex-pat vacuum salesman Jim Wormold
(Guinness) is roped into Britain's Cuban espionage division. Paid per item of
intelligence, and desperate to send daughter Milly (Morrow) to an expensive
European school, Wormold embellishes his reports with daring falsification. But
the ruse has uneasy consequences, especially when his activities arouse the
suspicions of police chief Captain Segura (Kovacs) suspicion. Guinness plays his
part to perfection, an Everyman paddling furiously against the tide, and
excellent support comes from Ralph Richardson (as the obsessive MI6 boss), Burl
Ives and Paul Rogers (as rival agent). But Coward steals the show as his
patrician spymaster. DVD Release Date: February 3rd, 2009
Drumline BR
- Devon Miles (Nick Cannon) has just graduated high school in New York, prideful
that he has accomplished this without drugs, arrests, or any help from his
deadbeat dad. He also has a talent for drumming, enough for him to have been
tapped by Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones) for a spot in his celebrated, if fictitious,
marching band at Atlanta A&T University, along with the full scholarship that
goes with it. Pride seems to be the name of his game. Devon might as well have
graduated from Pride and Attitude High School - with honors.
Blu-ray Release date: January 27, 2009
Blindness - Blindness may be one of
the most impacting films I've ever seen on a first viewing (Grave of the
Fireflies springs to mind as another). It would seem impossible not to
question your own decision process vis-à-vis the story development. Blindness
does this so well as it has such a broad spectrum of, essentially helpless,
characters. Although the film can be intensely disturbing to many, it is such a
grand exploration of challenging principles, forcing survivalist tendencies and
a disparaging look at the frailty of our own civilization - that has evolved to
this point. Under the circumstances proposed in Blindness - all that we, as a
society, have accomplished can quickly revert us back to the most baser and
primitive imaginable. An unnerving but wholly valid introspection. DVD
Release Date: February 10th, 2009
Lakeview Terrace
BR - It's a challenging journey LaBute takes us on. Some will find it
exciting. Some will find it an opportunity for an examination of conscience.
Some will leave feeling vaguely uneasy. Some won't like it and will be
absolutely sure why they don't, but their reasons will not agree. Some will hate
elements that others can't even see. Some will only see a thriller. I find
movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking
challenged at every step of the way. Blu-ray
Release Date: January 27th, 2009
Hulk vs. BR
- Marvel Animated Features premieres two all new action-packed films together on
one release - Hulk vs. Wolverine and Hulk vs.Thor. Hulk vs
Wolverine: Alberta, Canada. The Incredible Hulk has been tearing a line
across the Canadian countryside, leaving a swath of destruction in his wake. He
has to be stopped, and there's only one man up to the job. He's the best there
is at what he does, but what he does isn't very nice. He's Wolverine, an elite
agent of Canada's top secret Department H, and he's been put on Hulk's trail
with a single objective: stop the green goliath...at all costs. Hulk and
Wolverine are about to enter the fiercest battle of their lives. Hulk vs. Thor:
Asgard, realm of the gods. For ages, Loki the trickster has sought a way to
bring defeat to his accursed stepbrother, Thor. But for all the battles Thor has
fought, in all the nine realms, only one creature has ever been able to match
his strength - a mortal beast of Midgard known as The Incredible Hulk. Now, with
Odin, the almighty king of the gods, deep in a regenerative sleep, and the
forces protecting Asgard at their weakest, Loki is finally ready to spring his
trap. In an epic battle that will pit gods against monsters, that will test a
hero's limits more than ever before, only The Mighty Thor can hope to prevail.
Blu-ray Release Date: January 27th, 2009
Space Buddies BR
- Five sibling puppies, owned by as many schoolmates, manage to stowaway in a
rocket ship bound for a moon mission. What is supposed to make this remotely
credible is that the mission is designed to be unmanned and controlled remotely
from its launch station. So as long as the pups don't get in the way they could
conceivably make the trip. But what plot would there be if they didn't lend a
paw in their own destinies. Blu-ray Release
date: February 3rd, 2009
Next
2 weeks on the Calendar:
Week of February 2nd, 2009
[Blu-ray] [Limited Release] (Rashomon, Ran, Madadayo, and The Quiet Duel - Shizukanaru Ketto) - R'0' Blu-ray - no English subtitles - Jesnet (The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Man in the White Suit, The Captain’s Paradise and The Ladykillers) - Lions Gate Home Ent. (Charles Frend, 1957) - R2 UK Optimum [Blu-ray] (Hal Ashby, 1979) Warner Home Video (Randall Miller, 2008) 20th Century Fox [Blu-ray] (David Lean, 1945) R0 UK ITVColumbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1990
- Columbo Goes to College, Caution: Murder Can be Hazardous to Your Health, The Murder of a Rock Star, It's All in the Game, Butterfly in Shades of Grey and Undercover - Universal (Silvio Soldini, 2007) Film Movement (Oxide Pang Chun, 2006) Image Entertainment (Arch Oboler, 1951) Sony Pictures (Stephen Frears, 1971) Sony [Blu-ray] (Deborah Kampmeier, 2007) Hannover House (Richard Donner, 1980) Lionsgate [Blu-ray] (Jonathan Dayton + Valerie Faris, 2006) 20th Century FoxNatalie Wood Signature Collection (Splendor in the Grass, The Gypsy, Sex and the Single Girl, Bombers B-52 and The Cash McCall) Warner Home Video (Carol Reed, 1959) Sony [Blu-ray] (Mel Gibson, 2004) 20th Century Fox
Paura - Lucio Fulci Remembered Vol. 1
[Limited Edition] (Mike Baronas, 2008) Tempe Video (I’m All Right, Jack!, The Smallest Show on Earth, Carlton-Browne of the F.O., Two-Way Stretch and Heavens Above) Lionsgate [Blu-ray] (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2008) 20th Century Fox [Blu-ray] (Alexander Payne, 2004) 20th Century Fox
February 9th, 2008
[Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 2005) New Line Home Video [Blu-ray] (Milos Forman, 1984) Warner Home Video (Christopher Doyle, 1999) R2 UK Artificial Eye (Fernando Meirelles, 2008) Miramax [Blu-ray] (Troy Duffy, 2000) Fox/MGM [Blu-ray] (Prachya Pinkaew, 2008) Magnolia (Martin Ritt, 1983) Lions Gate [Blu-ray] (Sean Solimon, 2008) Giant Flick FilmsDonnie Darko [Blu-ray] (Richard Kelly, 2001) 20th Century Fox (Jeffrey Lau, 1993) R2 UK Artificial Eye (Corey Yuen, 1995) Dragon Dynasty (Luis Buñuel, 1962) Criterion (Courtney Hunt, 2008) Sony Pictures [Blu-ray] (Courtney Hunt, 2008) Sony Pictures (Matteo Garrone, 2008) R2 UK Optimum Home Entertainment
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
(Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1943) Criterion (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) MGM (David Ondaatje, 2009) Sony (Spike Lee, 2008) Touchstone / Disney
"You may be disappointed if you fail.... but you are doomed if you don't
try." -
Beverly Sills
Have a great week,
Gary